rainforest vignettes
by Empress Kitty
Summary: "So, you were waiting for me!" Allure declared triumphantly. Her scales rippled golden. Luminary shrugged; looking at him, Allure felt like she'd swallowed a bright piece of late afternoon sun. "You could say that." - scenes from Allure's life and adventures with Luminary that I'm never going to string together into a coherent story so I may as well share now -
1. Chapter 1

Allure paced sleepily across the forest floor, soaking in the quiet. It was hot and humid, and dark, so dark that it was a wonder the scattered ferns and saplings managed to flourish. She kept her scales to muted greens and greys as she explored, so jungle life continued around her in its usual unhurried way.

Today she was following a huge grey parrot, a type she'd never seen before. It was away up in the canopy, flapping wildly through the branches in a way startlingly different to the graceful movements of the native birds. Macaws, harpy eagles, toucans, paradise birds – Allure knew them all, which made this new species startling.

The parrot was leading her into a deeper and deeper tangle of flowers. Their petals dripped down Allure's neck and the stamens caught in her scales. The parrot fought through the thicket with grim determination, and so she followed, treading lightly and camouflaging her colours to the radiant pinks and yellows of the blooms.

At last, the flowers melted away, revealing an empty patch of wet earth overshadowed by craning trees. The parrot disappeared with a screech, but Allure had already banished it from her thoughts.

In front of her was the best discovery she'd ever made, and she loved it already. An immense palace in pink and white marble grew up from the jungle, with ancient orange trees outside the double doors and a thick sheen of moss over the stone. One of the doors stood ever so slightly ajar, and inside she could see nothing but black.

Allure took a step forward, her scales shivering to splotches of pink and electric blue. The clearing was still, but to her, it seemed the edges curled with mystery. A water drop landed on her head. She made up her mind.

The gap between the two giant doors was large enough for a relatively determined RainWing dragonet to slip through. The buzz of birdsong and chittering insects soon faded and the echoing tap tapping of Allure's claws was the only sound as she crept into the cool green darkness.

Drifts of leaves had been blown in through the open doors. Allure avoided them with deft little hops until the light faded so that she couldn't see them enough to stop the crunching underpaw. Every moment in the dark hall she felt more and more awake. Lightly, stealthily, she moved about and watched as the dark pressed against her eyeballs.

The tunnel sloped gradually down, and if there were any turnoffs Allure couldn't see them, so she kept walking straight, trembling faintly with excitement. A palace – maybe even a temple! – sitting undiscovered to the south of the village. She could come back, with fire and friends, and explore for days. The palace was huge, judging by the length of this one corridor, and just by running her tail over the walls, Allure could tell there were intricate murals carved into the stone.

Who could she trust with this secret? Of course, Queen Glory must be told, but not immediately, no. That would ruin the fun. Allure ran through her closest friends – _Tropic, Boa… Peccary…_ _Was it worth telling Uakari –_

There was a light up ahead. It was warm and flickered. Allure spread her wings a little and glided the rest of the way down to where the hall split into two tunnels. A torch was sitting in a bracket at the junction, and she could see more torches lining the way to the right.

The RainWing shivered.


	2. Chapter 2

Allure moved as fast as she could through the rainforest – a flicker of movement as she swung and glided from tree to tree. It almost felt like she was fleeing from something, but she knew she was alone this far from the village. Still, her body thrummed with adrenalin.

The forest shifted around her, changing from lush and dry to muddy and full of flowering plants as it sloped downhill. Flood season was in full swing, so Allure angled higher into the trees to avoid the rising waters. She had to go slower here, least she got tangled in the moonbeam-thin roots that dangled from various bromeliads. There were risks to travelling higher in the canopy too; many times, Allure had stepped in a water-trapping plant only to have snakes, frogs, and even once, crabs, crawl up her leg. She shuddered at the thought.

Allure plunged into a flock of blue-and-yellow macaws and emerged speeding over a freshwater lake so clear that she could see the trees flourishing under the water. She slowed to a blissful glide and began to circle with languorous tilts of her wings. Below, a black caiman broke its cover as a rotting log to lunge at the silver-green flash of a huge fish. Tambaqui or pirarucu? Allure wondered lazily, fully aware that she was procrastinating. IceWings eat fish… what if I brought him one?

She ducked closer to the surface of the lake, mirroring the manoeuvring of a pod of river dolphins. They scattered in a spray of pinkish-grey bodies at the sight of her shadow, leaving her to watch the fish they'd been stalking. Tambaqui. Abruptly, she didn't feel like fishing and pulled up and away. The water shone, reflecting the grey clouds.

There was a dragon on the other side of the lake. Allure swooped down to him and landed lightly, her claws making grooves in the mud. "Waiting for me?" she asked.

Luminary grinned at her. "Twilight was restless. I think we both needed time to clear our heads." The dappled sunlight made a warm little silver star on his cheek. She could have kissed it.

"Is Twilight nearby, then?" She craned her neck to look for the large grey parrot. "I hope he's clever enough to avoid the snakes."

"I've already rescued him from a jaguar today, so he's back at the temple in disgrace," confided Luminary with a flick of his wings in the direction of the hideout.

"So, you were waiting for me!" Allure declared triumphantly. Her scales rippled golden.

Luminary shrugged; looking at him, Allure felt like she'd swallowed a bright piece of late afternoon sun. "You could say that."


	3. Chapter 3

The drums were loud tonight. They got inside Allure's head, made her want to flick her tail and twirl to the beat. Her muscles were still fearfully tired and her breath caught in her throat, so she settled for shifting her scales instead – lilac; gold; hazy blue – and watching the other RainWings dance in a spire above the Arboretum. Rainforest dances were intricate and mesmerising to watch from the outside, and this one especially was fast and patterned, composed by a long-forgotten dragon to celebrate the flowering of the passionfruit vines that adorned the eastern part of the village.

Allure watched her friends twirl and glide, switching direction with the barest flick of their wings, the shape of their movements hinting at draping vines and curling petals. From her perch on a woven walkway, it looked effortless, but Allure knew this dance inside and out and the complexity of being up there, surrounded by fireflies and lost in the music yet still perfectly in time and in tune, was breath-taking. It took its toll on any dragon who tried to stay in the pattern for longer than a talonful of repeats, which was why Allure was reclining on a bridge instead of celebrating.

A white dragon spiralled down from the configuration, a string of jade beads clicking against his scales. "Tired already, 'Lure?"

"As if," said Allure, tossing her small bright head and flaring her ruff. "I'll be up in a heartbeat."

"I'll hold you to it," Boa said. His wings beat once, twice, and he disappeared back into the dusky light.

The huge torches that lined the central walkways were being lit. Allure settled down to watch the fire flare up and the water that contained it blush orange and yellow. With the flickering contrast, the rainforest was all of a sudden dark, and shadows loomed. Allure thought she heard the drummers falter; they picked up again with a different, simpler rhythm.

"Care to dance?" Another white dragon alighted next to Allure. For a moment, she thought it was Boa, back to pester her, but this dragon was moon silver, not true white, and more angular, spiky, even. He radiated a chill as if he was carved from ice despite the heat of the tropical night.

"Of course," Allure replied graciously. She stood and stretched, her colours flicking to a blue veiled with a haze of light gold, the same palette as an early summer sky. The intricacies of her scales were barely visible in the flame-tinged darkness but it still earned her a deeply admiring glance from the IceWing.

"Ready?" she asked softly. Luminary placed a claw on her wing, and together they floated away like flowers tossed into a pool, twirling up and into the pattern of shifting dancers. For a moment, Allure lost sight of his silver scales, then she was swung round again and _there you are_ her mind sighed. Moonlight drenched everything as he came dancing back towards her, weaving in and out of the dancing colours.

"It's good to see you," his faint voice murmured, close to her ear.

"I've been busy, preparing for the festival," explained Allure, twisting gracefully away.

Luminary made a vague, surprised noise, and let her go. Allure smiled at him more radiantly than ever, and the fiery torches turned to streaming golden flags as she spun.

A firefly landed on her wing and she shifted her hue to match its glow, just as Luminary's glittering talons reached for hers. They spun, and the village around them merged into a blur of shadows and leaping flame colours.

"I am… sorry, you know," he said.

"I know." Allure tilted her head back to face the stars.

"I was wrong, and I'll fix it."

That was better. Allure twirled without looking at him, but let their tails twine. She hummed in time with the drums and shivered.

"Won't you come back? Twilight misses you." He sighed, a gentle sound that she strained to hear. "I miss you."

The rhythm of the dance pulled them apart, and Allure let herself be swung in an arc. The air was stifling without Luminary's chill to temper it, and she swapped places with Jaguar to get back to him. At last, Allure met his gaze. "Promise?"

"By the moon and the stars."

Allure melted against him, smiling so wide she thought her scales were going to shatter. "I guess it's okay then," she whispered, and let him steer her out of the dance. Luminary rested his head on hers, and she felt the weight of his happiness.

"See you tomorrow, RainWing."

"See you tomorrow, IceWing."

With barely a flicker of movement, Allure was alone, and Luminary was a pale shape amongst the trees. She hovered and watched him vanish.


	4. Chapter 4

Allure's claws clicked gently as she placed her paw over the sphere. It was cold to the touch and shone with a milky brightness that filled the chamber with light.

"This is why you're here?"

Luminary nodded silently. Allure uncovered the globe to study his expression and had to suppress her urge to hug him. Instead, she paced, trailing her tail over the stone wall. She must have camouflaged herself at some point because Luminary's eyeline was off when he finally spoke.

"These globes, they grow from a tree in the palace. An animus made it, long ago. It's very precious to us – I mean, to IceWings."

"Just because you're here, doesn't mean you aren't an IceWing anymore," Allure said gently, laying her paw over his. They watched as her scales rippled to blue and green. "Unless you don't want to be?"

"I don't know anymore."

He turned away from her, reached for the globe and cradled it to his chest. They were obviously from the same place, him and this mysterious object; there was something about the way they stood out from the soft brown temple stone. Allure wondered what it would be like to visit Luminary's home of icy wastes and fierce warrior dragons. She curled her tail into a spiral and imagined it covered in spikes.

"I stole it," Luminary said quietly. He was wrapping the globe in leaves and wouldn't meet her eyes as the light faded. Allure called for Twilight to bring them down a torch and slipped closer to Luminary, shivering slightly as the chill of his scales washed over her. He made a guilty noise and caught her talons in his.

"You stole it? Why?"

She felt him shift and wished they were out in good honest sunlight, not deep in an abandoned temple.

"It's not fair, the way we hoard these gifts. These moon globes? They're just light." He gestured wildly. "They don't do any harm. Still, we lie, and hide them from the world." Allure hummed as he cupped her snout with a talon. "I want to change that. To share these things with dragons like you."

"IceWings have other animus objects?"

She felt the air move but couldn't tell if he nodded or shook his head, so they lapsed into contemplative silence until Luminary perked up and said his parrot had finally deigned to honour them with his presence.

Twilight looked less out of place down here in the dark, without the rainforest damp to wet his feathers and curtail his grace. He came flying down the corridor with a torch in his claws and squawked impatiently until Allure got up to take it off him, then perched on Luminary's head as she slotted the fire into the wall. She held out a paw and the parrot bumped it with his beak, muttering something about mangoes.

The mood had lifted, at least, and Luminary seemed more cheerful as they climbed back up to the altar room. They set up a picnic in an antechamber with the fruit Allure had brought and a whole pirarucu that Luminary had caught that morning, and Twilight hopped about chasing away the last hints of moroseness as he stacked fish bones. Luminary taught her an IceWing dragonet game with pebbles and Allure felt the happiest she ever had.


End file.
